Lost Something in Sweden? Hittegods and Lost Property Explained

Sweden has no single lost-and-found. Where your item sits depends on where you left it, and three different laws decide that. Find the right holder first and most of the problem solves itself.

When you need this

You left a bag on a train, a jacket on a ferry, a camera at airport security or a charger in a hotel room. Or something slipped out of a pocket in the street and you hope someone handed it in. It also covers phones that may be lost or may be stolen, and items you only miss once you are home.

If what you lost was a wallet or bank cards, block the cards first: our lost wallet guide covers that emergency. A missing passport has its own procedure in the lost passport guide.

Who holds your item

The trap is asking the police about something you left on a train. By law the police never receive it: whoever finds it must hand it to the transport company.

Step by step

1. Work out who holds it using the table above.
2. Contact that holder’s lost property service, not the police. Use its online form if it has one. Many regional operators send you to the contact for the specific line you rode.
3. Describe the item precisely: brand, model, colour, distinguishing marks, serial number or, for a phone, its IMEI number, plus when and where you lost it.
4. Allow for the delay and search again. Items take from one working day up to about ten working days to arrive.
5. Lost it in the street, or no idea where? Make a lost-item report (förlustanmälan) with the police on 114 14, or +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone, or at a police station.
6. Think it was stolen? That’s a crime report, not lost property. See reporting a crime in Sweden.
7. Collect it with physical ID and a payment card for the fee.
8. Already left Sweden? Ask the holder to send it, at your cost.

Trains, buses and ferries

Since August 2022, anyone who picks up something left behind on a train, tram, metro train, bus or ship must hand it to the transport company. The company must store it, look after it and tell you if it knows who you are. After three months, or one month after it has told you, the item belongs to the company.

Each operator runs its own service, and they differ in the details:

• Stockholm (SL): one central lost property office at Liljeholmen for the metro, buses, commuter trains and trams, with an online search form. Items can take up to ten working days to arrive, ordinary items are kept 90 days, and bank cards aren’t kept at all. Things left on commuter boats are mostly with the shipping company. More in our Stockholm public transport guide.
• Västtrafik (Gothenburg region): you choose the line you rode and get that line’s lost property contact. Allow at least one working day.
• SJ trains: SJ’s regional Krösatågen service, as an example, keeps items three months, then gives unclaimed ones to charity. Items take several days to show up in its system.
• Öresundståg: a contractor handles lost property from five locations, including Copenhagen. You can’t search for an item before it has reached one of them. Valuables lost in Denmark are a matter for the Danish police district where you lost them.
• Ferries: ask the shipping line. Destination Gotland warns that items can take up to three days to reach its lost property department.

Uncollected ID documents go from the transport company to the police. SL sends loose passports and driving licences on, but never takes ID out of a wallet.

Airports

Airports follow a separate 1972 ordinance. Anything found on the aircraft goes to the airline. Anything found elsewhere at the airport goes to the airline it can reasonably be linked to, or otherwise to the airport.

• Stockholm Arlanda: lost property is at Level 1 in Terminal 5, with an online search service. It handles items from some airlines’ aircraft; for others, contact your airline. The Arlanda airport guide shows the terminal layout.
• Göteborg Landvetter: Swedavia’s information desk in the departure hall handles lost property, including most items found on board. Items are kept three months and there is a card-only fee when you collect.
• Airport coaches run their own lost property, separate from the airport’s.

Hotels, shops, restaurants and taxis

Something forgotten in a shop, hotel or restaurant and taken care of there falls under the same lost property rules, but no finder’s fee is owed. Ask the reception or the staff, ideally before you check out.

Taxis aren’t covered by the 2022 transport law. You trace the car through the taxi company, and the receipt is your key: by law it shows the car’s registration number, the company and the driver code. Keep it, paper or electronic, until you have left Sweden. See taxis in Sweden.

The police: street finds and the loss report

The police hold what finders hand in from the street, parks and other places no company runs. Only some police stations handle lost property; Polisen lists them by municipality.

Two things trip visitors up:

• There is no public online search of items the police hold.
• The online loss report needs a Swedish personal identity or coordination number. Visitors call 114 14 or go to a station instead.

The police don’t register found keys; for keys, ask at a station in person. When a found item matches, the police send you a notice saying where and when to collect it.

Lost or stolen phone

A phone simply left behind is lost property like anything else: ask whoever ran the place. A stolen phone is a crime report. Give the police the phone’s IMEI number, which makes it searchable in police records. You find the IMEI on the box or receipt, or by dialling *#06#, so note it before the trip.

The police don’t block phones or SIM cards. Your mobile operator does, and it will ask for the phone number, the IMEI and the police report number.

Finder’s fees and deadlines

The famous Swedish finder’s fee (hittelön) exists, but only in one situation: someone found your item outside transport, airports and venues and reported it to the police. Then you pay a reasonable finder’s fee, which Polisen says is usually 10% of the value, plus the police’s and finder’s reasonable costs.

Unclaimed items don’t go to auction by default. The police can sell a find early only if it would deteriorate, storing it would cost too much, or there’s another special reason. Transport companies and airports may dispose of perishable or low-value items straight away.

If you found something, you must report it to the police or hand it to the transport company or venue. Keeping it is punishable and costs you every right to the find.

Getting it home after you’ve left

Holders often post items, at your cost. Several transport operators send found items to an address for a fee based on size and weight. The law lets transport companies and airports charge reasonable storage costs, and an airport or airline that ships on your instructions may charge for that too.

Ask before you leave if you can, give a full postal address abroad, and expect to pay by card. Swish isn’t an option without a Swedish bank account.

Practical information

FAQ

Where do I find something I lost on a train or bus in Sweden?

Contact the company that ran the train or bus, not the police. Since August 2022 the law makes transport companies keep found items for three months. In Stockholm that is SL’s central office at Liljeholmen; elsewhere each regional operator or train company has its own lost property service, often run per line. Items can take several days to be registered.

Can I search Swedish police lost property online as a tourist?

No. Polisen has no public online search of found items, and its online loss report needs a Swedish personal identity or coordination number. Visitors call 114 14, or +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone, or visit a police station. The police only hold items found outside transport, airports and venues and handed in to them.

How long do lost property offices in Sweden keep items?

Three months is the legal benchmark. If the owner is not identified within three months, or does not collect within one month of being told, the item passes to the finder, the transport company or the airport. Some operators keep items for a shorter time in practice: SL keeps ordinary items 90 days and bank cards not at all.

Do I have to pay a finder’s fee in Sweden?

Only for a find handed in outside public transport, airports and venues. Then the owner pays a reasonable finder’s fee, usually 10% of the value, plus reasonable costs. Nothing is owed as finder’s fee for items found on buses, trains, ferries or planes, at airports, or forgotten in a shop or hotel, though the holder may charge a handling fee.

I left something at Arlanda or Landvetter. Who do I contact?

Left on the plane: usually your airline, as the law sends aircraft finds there. At Arlanda, the airport’s lost property is at Level 1 in Terminal 5 and handles items from some airlines’ aircraft; at Landvetter, Swedavia’s information desk handles most items, keeps them three months and charges a card-only fee. Airport coaches run separate lost property.

Can lost property be sent to me after I leave Sweden?

Often, yes, at your cost. Several transport operators post found items to an address for a fee based on size and weight, and the law lets a holder that follows your instructions charge its reasonable costs. Ask before you leave if you can, give a full address abroad, and expect to pay by card.

Should I call the police if I lose my phone in Sweden?

Only if it was stolen. A stolen phone is a crime report, made with the phone’s IMEI number, which makes it searchable in police records; your mobile operator blocks the phone and SIM, since the police do not. A phone simply left behind is traced through whoever runs the place, like any other item.

Related guides

• Lost wallet or stolen cards — if bank cards were in what you lost, block them before anything else.
• Lost passport in Sweden — the police report and the embassy step for a missing travel document.
• Reporting a crime in Sweden — when “lost” turns out to be stolen.
• Taxis in Sweden — the receipt details that let you trace a car.
• Pickpockets and tourist scams — keeping hold of things next time.

Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (lag 1938:121, lag 2022:798, kungörelse 1972:17), Polismyndigheten, Swedavia, Transportstyrelsen, SL, SJ, Västtrafik, Öresundståg and Destination Gotland — full register in this topic’s source file. We publish no lost property phone numbers or opening hours because operators change them; use the holder’s own page. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.